Eternal’s strong Q2 report; Exits outpace hiring at top IT firms

Eternal's Q2 revenue witnessed a 78% surge, propelled by the growth of Blinkit, its food and grocery delivery service. The company's operating revenue reached Rs 24,138 crore, an increase from Rs 13,813 crore a year earlier. However, the net profit nearly doubled to Rs 125 crore, surpassing market estimates. Despite the revenue growth, Eternal's profit for Q2 fell short of expectations.

Eternal's CEO, Albinder Dhindsa, pointed out that the company's quick commerce business, Blinkit, is experiencing "predictable levels" of competition. The company expects to surpass its 2027 target of 3,000 dark stores by adding 500 more, with plans to expand to 5,000 micro warehouses by 2028. CEO Dhindsa also mentioned the potential of agentic AI tools, stating that Blinkit and Zomato are in the low-risk zone against the threat of agentic commerce.

In contrast, Eternal's dining out and events business, District, saw a 50% YoY growth in net order value, lagging behind market expectations of a 30% increase. Eternal's vice chairman, Deepinder Goyal, expressed that private labels do not present a compelling case for improving margins or driving additional demand.

Meanwhile, a report revealed that top US technology companies such as Qualcomm, TCS, Infosys, HCLTech, Wipro, and Tech Mahindra laid off 92,000 employees, marking a decline in overall IT hiring by 24,422. Francis Padamadan, CEO of staffing firm Xpheno, noted that the workforce in IT and engineering functions has gradually decreased, with annual attrition remaining steady at 11-15%. However, companies have been slow to refill the attrited seats.

Qualcomm, another major tech firm, announced its intention to cut 600-1,200 jobs in India as part of a global restructuring effort. This decision comes amid a slump in consumer electronics sales and rising memory prices, adversely affecting demand in key markets. Despite these job cuts, Qualcomm continues to hire in India, with approximately 600 open positions, surpassing the US workforce of around 350.